Final column: How my kids learned to say ‘thank you’ — and mean it By Drew Himmelstein Dec 8, 2021 “Say thank you!” This reminder rolls off my lips on an auto-loop as a parent, but never more so than at this time of year. The seasonal kickoff is during Halloween trick-or-treating, when the kids are buzzed and overstimulated, and we trail behind them from house to house, reminding them to be polite. And it… Read More
Parenting As my kids get vaccinated, they wonder what’s next “Do you remember when we couldn’t go to the playground because we thought Covid could be transmitted through surfaces, so we took you to the park first… By Drew Himmelstein Nov 8, 2021
Parenting Want rave reviews for dinner? Let your kids choose. “This dinner isn’t good… it’s stupendous!” Harvey, 5, told me at the table this week. “It’s not great… it’s amazing!” Nate, 9, chimed in. What magical… By Drew Himmelstein Oct 11, 2021
Parenting I’m pro-choice, I’m a parent, and I know what I can handle In the waning days of the 2020 presidential campaign, Ivanka Trump, who had previously avoided stating her position on abortion rights, made an… By Drew Himmelstein Sep 13, 2021
Parenting My kids roam the neighborhood, and that's good for everyone On a recent afternoon, the 6-year-old boy from across the street wandered over to my driveway looking for something to do. I was sitting on the front… By Drew Himmelstein Aug 23, 2021
Parenting Summer is a real page-turner in my book-happy family My grandparents’ basement is a magical place. Always cool in summer, it’s filled with piles of old movie posters from our family-owned movie theater,… By Drew Himmelstein Jul 27, 2021
Parenting As if Covid wasn’t enough, my new nightmare is ticks The microscopic Covid-19 pathogen is often anthropomorphically illustrated as a fiendish ball with a destructive look on its face, studded all over with… By Drew Himmelstein Jun 28, 2021
Parenting ‘Honor system’ on masks puts my young kids at peril When it comes to medical choices about my kids, I couldn’t be more conventional. Mine got all their childhood vaccines right on schedule; the more, the… By Drew Himmelstein Jun 1, 2021
Parenting Stop packing lunches! It makes life better for everyone When my oldest son started kindergarten four years ago, it was the first year that New York City implemented free universal lunch and breakfast for all… By Drew Himmelstein Apr 26, 2021